NEXT WEEKEND will see a number of athletes from Co. Wexford clubs travel to Tullamore for the National Combined Events Championships which take place on August 10 and 11.

The Juvenile Under-14, Under-15 and Under-16 categories will compete in the pentathlon, in five events: high jump, 80m hurdles, shot putt, 800m and long jump. Points are scored in accordance with performance.

Juveniles aged Under-17 and Under-18 will compete in the youth category in the Octathlon over the Saturday and the Sunday of competition, with additional events including the javelin and sprint, as well as longer hurdles distances. Under-19s will compete this year as Juniors in the decathlon.

A number of Wexford athletes go into the championships as medal contenders. Ryan Carthy-Walsh from Adamstown is the Leinster champion in the combined events Under-15 boys and performed strongly in four of his five pentathlon events earlier this year. As the recently-crowned All-Ireland high jump champion in his age group, he is expected to pick up a good tally of points in this, his strongest event.

He would be also expected to do very well in the 80m hurdles, having won a bronze medal in this event at the nationals in July. He also performed very well at the shot putt and the long jump at Leinster level and would be hoping to improve on his time for the 800m going into the nationals. His all-round ability and workrate undoubtedly makes him one of the strongest medal contenders of the competition.

From Enniscorthy A.C., there will be a number of athletes competing in both the Junior and youths events. Colin Nolan is the Leinster champion at Under-19 level, but will face a huge challenge as he moves to compete in the Junior decathlon which includes the pole vault, an event which was not part of the programme at Leinster level.

Also current Leinster champion in the girls' Under-16 is Mairéad Fortune who will compete in the pentathlon and goes into the nationals as a strong contender in all her five events, but in particular in the 80m hurdles. She is also a very strong 800m runner, scoring excellently in this event with a time of 2.28 seconds at the Leinster championships.

Mark O'Connor as Leinster Under-17 champion will have to move up to compete against the Under-18s in the nationals, and will be in the same category as his clubmates, Ciarán Joyce and Cathal Byrne, who came through the Leinsters in second and third position respectively.

The boys will have an additional three events that they must attempt over the two days of competition, but their experience as part of the Wexford team in the National League will hopefully stand to these all-rounders as they move from the Juvenile ranks.